Panasonic is one of the major players in the new push to 3D and the company announced its first 3D Blu-ray player at CES 2010.
Panasonic didn't announce it in the press release, but when we took a tour of the booth we noticed that the DMP-BDT350 features dual HDMI outputs, which is unique compared with all the other 3D Blu-ray players announced at CES 2010. The reason for the dual ports is to deal with the fact that 3D Blu-ray requires HDMI 1.4, and all existing AV receivers support only HDMI 1.3.
The Panasonic DMP-BDT350 will integrate more easily with existing AV receivers, by sending the high-bandwidth 3D video directly to your HDTV, and the audio to the receiver. Other 3D Blu-ray players will require new HDMI 1.4 AV receivers if you want to use HDMI for audio.
We think it's a smart design choice, and it differentiates the DMP-BDT350 from the other 3D Blu-ray players at the show.
Samsung was one of many manufacturers to announce a 3D Blu-ray player at CES 2010, but it was the only one to include a "3D effect" in the exterior design, with its see-through top cover. The BD-C6900 includes built-in Wi-Fi and access to streaming media services like Netflix, Pandora, Vudu, and Picasa through Samsung Apps.
3D Blu-ray is one of the big stories at CES 2010, and it's no surprise that Sony is a major player in Blu-ray's next incarnation. Sony announced its first standalone 3D Blu-ray player, the BDP-S770, which also manages to integrate the best features of its current Blu-ray players.
In 2009, Sony's BDP-S560 had Wi-Fi, but limited streaming media options; the BDP-N460 had tons of streaming media options, but only Ethernet connectivity. The Sony BDP-S770 has the best of both players, so you'll have easy access to some instant gratification media when you're tired of wearing 3D glasses.
Toshiba had the least information available about its 3D Blu-ray player, and final press images weren't even available yet. We expect it will have built-in Wi-Fi and the same streaming media services as the company's standard Blu-ray players.
We knew 3D was coming, but we didn't expect it to be integrated into a home-theater-in-a-box (HTIB) system this quickly. Sony announced the BDV-HZ970W, a home theater system that features an integrated 3D Blu-ray player and a 5.1 speaker system with wireless rear speakers.
